TENNIS FRENCH OPEN : Brazilian Proves the Perfect Tonic as Chang Begins Defense of Title

On the first day of the defense of his French Open title, Michael Chang counted the friendly faces in the stands. One, two, three, four, five.

“We have Team Chang,” said Joe Chang, the player’s father.

From the stands of Court One, Team Chang gathered on a sunny Monday morning to rally around its struggling leader. In front of his parents, younger brother, hitting partner and physical therapist, Chang responded by beating Cassio Motta of Brazil, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

Joe Chang, who has taken a leave of absence from his job to travel the circuit coaching his son, said they have been working a lot on the service game.

“I want him to become a thinker on his serves,” Joe Chang said.

But for the younger Chang, thinking has been a problem. The trouble is that he thinks about what happened to him here last year.

“It went fast,” Chang said.

“I think the people are kind of wondering to see how I play this year. Has he gotten better or worse? Is he taller? Bigger? Stronger? More handsome?

“Actually, I think I might have gotten shorter because I got a new haircut.”

There were no close shaves against Motta. Chang saved seven break points in the first set, came back from 1-4 to win the second set and breezed in the third.

“I didn’t really think if I was going to win or lose,” Chang said. “I just went out there and played. That’s what I needed to do.”

Some played better than others on the first day. Andre Agassi played worse than Canadian Martin Wostenholme for a while, then better.

The third-seeded and No. 5-ranked Agassi was frustrated by his inconsistency. He beat Wostenholme, ranked No. 122, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-0, 6-1, but seemed dissatisfied.

He was erratic, even by his own standards. Agassi reached the second round, but not before he:

--Broke his racket and received a warning from chair umpire Sultan Gangji.

--Served underhanded once.

--Tried to hit Wostenholme with a ball and was heard cursing on several occasions.

Said Wostenholme: “I guess he’s good for tennis because he brings a lot of controversy to the game.”

At least Agassi brought a lot of people to the interview room, setting the unofficial French Open record with five--brother, agent, coach, bodyguard, hitting partner.

Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open champion, needed five sets and seven match points to defeat 21-year-old qualifier Francisco Roig of Spain, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Noah ended a streak of six consecutive first-match losses.

Emilio Sanchez of Spain, seeded sixth and ranked eighth, was upset by 19-year-old Swedish qualifier Nicklas Kulti, ranked No. 175. Sanchez lost, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-1.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf needed only 40 minutes to defeat Pascale Paradis of France, 6-0, 6-2.

Afterwards, Graf gave her assessment: “It wasn’t the hardest match.”

In fact, Graf’s only difficulty seems to be scheduling her outings. “There are so many interesting old buildings, museums,” she said. “It’s like New York where you can do things at any time of the day, especially if you stay close to the Champs Elysees.”

Fifth-seeded Zina Garrison has time to tour, if she wishes. Garrison was the first upset victim, losing to Wiltrud Probst of West Germany, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.

Garrison, who blew a match point at 5-4, 40-30, said she felt ill at ease playing at 11 a.m. in the first match of the day.

“I’m not a morning person,” she said.

Nor, apparently, is David Wheaton, the 20-year-old U.S. clay court champion who reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Wheaton blew four match points and lost to Milan Srjeber of Czechoslovakia in a first-round match that went totally downhill, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

“It was a strange match,” Wheaton said. “What can I say? What can I do now? Go out and play the fourth set over?”

Jay Berger lost, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, to Alberto Mancini of Argentina and does not want to go out and play even a first set for a month. For the ninth-seeded Berger, ranked No. 12 in the world, it was the 17th event in the last 18 weeks, a schedule that took its toll.

Jim Courier, seeded 13th, will play Srjeber after beating Jose Altur of Spain, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Courier, who played a special event in Dusseldorf that ended Sunday, asked to play Monday so he could avoid playing back-to-back Tuesday and Wednesday.

Courier drew the 22-year-old Altur, ranked No. 101.

“I didn’t know what he looked like until I walked on the court,” Courier said.